A Demon's Core

Violet felt exhilarated as she stalked the humans through the ruins of a vast city. She’d been given an important mission by Magentam. She was to follow these humans back to their home. That meant discovering a new part of the city no imps had ever seen before. But it was also dangerous. There were monsters out here, but not only that, there were humans. She knew that as she got closer to their home, there was a higher chance of seeing more humans than just the ones she was following. More humans meant more eyes on the lookout and a greater chance of being spotted.

But for all her excitement at having such an important job to do, she couldn’t ignore the worry and anxiety in the back of her mind. This was the first time she’d gone out alone for more than a few moments since she met Rose. There were always other imps around now and the hellhounds. Violet was never alone unless she wanted to be, which she rarely did. She would rather be surrounded by her friends all the time. So being alone like this now out in the city made her nervous.

Even though she was bigger and stronger now than she ever had been before, there were monsters out here that were bigger and stronger still. But there were few, if any, creatures out here as fast as she was. She could easily outrun any dangers she might encounter. Almost any. The humans had those weapons that Magentam called ‘guns’. That’s something she couldn’t outrun.

She’d already felt their sting once before, right before she died. She still felt weird about that. Dying isn’t something people usually live through, yet she had. A moment of pain and everything went away, then suddenly it all came back. Magentam had done something to bring her back, but she still didn’t really understand it. All she knew was that she was different now, even more than before.

She liked the new colour of her skin, it was nice. She’d never seen an imp with skin like hers before so it made her feel special. Her white hair was pretty too. She liked the blond hair she had before, enjoyed the way it made her stand out. But this was even better, white like the clouds up in the sky. So big and fluffy, she wished she could hug them, but they were too high up so she could never reach them.

Her longer tail was interesting. She would have expected it to feel strange, but instead it felt totally natural, so much so that she didn’t even think about it until that first fight with Coal when she slapped him in the face with it. Remembering the look of confusion he had when she did that made her giggle. Now she just needed to figure out how to attach something sharp to the end of her tail to make it a serious weapon. But everything she’d tried so far had either been too heavy or she could not attach it properly, or both. Maybe she should start by just adding extra weight to the end of her tail to improve its strength, though she would still need to find a way to secure it. She decided she would work on that when she got back after this mission.

She did enjoy being stronger, but she hoped she wouldn’t get any bigger. Other imps might start to be intimidated or not even see her as an imp anymore if she did. But no matter how strong she was, she wished she didn’t have to do this alone. It would be so nice if she could have Rose and her sister and Fuzzy and maybe even Coal with her.

But Rose had to take care of things at home, she was the leader after all, after Magentam of course. Her sister was still getting used to this place and wasn’t ready for a mission like this, but maybe next time she could come too. She was so happy her sister was here now. Magentam had given Violet a whole new life by bringing her and she was glad to be able to share it with her sister. Fuzzy is always great company because she is so fuzzy, but she stands out too much for this kind of mission.

She liked Coal despite his aggressive nature and the way he seemed to actually enjoy fighting. Though honestly, Violet liked fighting against him too. It gave her a chance to test her new strength without holding back, even if it did annoy Rose having to heal them so much. But for all that he would be great to have in a fight, he’s about as subtle as a raging corlok so not suitable for a stealth mission.

She had to do this alone. But she wasn't really alone. Now that she could talk to Magentam no matter how far away she was, she was never truly alone. That’s the reason why she was chosen for this mission. She could report anything important the moment she saw it or call for help if she was in danger and she would be teleported back home. It’s so cool that she could do that now, even if it would mean leaving her shield behind. There were others with all the other things that were taken from the humans, but this one was hers and it was her favourite.

So far the mission had been uneventful. The humans were moving pretty slowly, always on alert. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it made things boring to go so slow. All the creatures they had encountered so far had simply fled from them. One small rodent creature had run right past where Violet was hiding. She struck out with her dagger and impaled it before it even realized its mistake.

After the humans had been walking for a long time, with Violet darting from one hiding place to another as she stalked them, she could see that they were close to the river. But not a part of the river that she was familiar with. This was a long way from where she and the other imps played in the water. She was in a part of the city that she didn’t recognize now so nothing was familiar here. The humans seemed apprehensive of the water, with at least one of them always looking towards it. The human with the shield moved to be the one closest to the shore. Were they afraid of something in the water? Perhaps she should report this.

‘Magentam, the humans are following the river now, but they look like they’re afraid of it.’

Can you see anything in the water that would give them cause for concern? Magentam replied.

‘No, it looks normal to me.’

Have you ever seen anything strange in the water before?

‘I saw a round lizard with a hard shell once, but it didn’t seem dangerous. But this is very far from where we usually swim. Maybe whatever they’re afraid of is only around here.’

Perhaps, but if it is something that swims, there is no reason why it could not follow the river to where you are. I will not tell you all stop playing at the river, but please be careful and keep an eye out from now on. Magentam said, the tone of concern clear in her voice.

Violet could see a bridge in the distance spanning the width of the river. They couldn’t see this bridge from where they usually play in the river, but they could see more of the city on the other side. None of the imps had ever tried swimming across to the other shore. They hadn’t needed to when there was still so much to explore on their side of the river.

Maybe the humans came from the other side of the river and that’s why they had never encountered them before while exploring. Maybe she would be the first imp to travel to the other side. The others would definitely be jealous, she thought to herself with glee.

The humans suddenly stopped moving and raised their weapons. After a few moments, Violet saw why. From around a corner up ahead came a large four-legged beast. It was taller than the humans and had huge, sharp horns, one on either side of its head. It actually reminded Violet a little of a corlok, but with less horns and fur instead of scales. When the beast spotted the humans, it let out a loud bellow then charged at them with its head down, aiming to impale them on its horns.

The human with the bow fired an arrow which stuck in the beast’s side but did not slow it down at all. The two females and the male who had talked the most at the meeting raised their arms and the beast collided with an invisible wall in front of the humans. With the beast dazed and shaking its head, the humans lowered their arms and the first human fired another arrow, this one bouncing off the beast’s head rather than penetrating its skull.

As the beast backed up to charge again the humans erected the invisible wall once more. When the beast was dazed again after hitting the wall, the one with the bow fired more arrows. They repeated this pattern a few more times, some arrows bouncing harmlessly of its head, others digging into its sides. But then two of the magic humans pulled out guns and fired at the beast the next time it collided with the wall.

Violet couldn’t fight the terror that overwhelmed her when she heard the gunshots. It filled her with dread and she curled up on the ground and tried to hide beneath her shield as she remembered the first time she’d heard that sound.

The beast grunted as it was hit by the bullets. It turned away and stalked off, apparently deciding the humans were not worth the effort. The humans stayed where they were for a long time after that, on high alert in case the creature came back. But it never did and eventually they stared moving again, it was getting late in the afternoon now and they were moving faster now than they were before.

Violet contemplated just letting them go and returning home. She was terrified of them aiming their guns at her if they saw her. Magentam did tell her not to put herself in danger, so surely she wouldn’t be upset...No. This is a mission Magentam had entrusted to her and she was determined to succeed. But she would put even more distance between herself and the humans, be even more careful about staying hidden. She could not afford to let them see her, no matter what.

The humans reached the bridge as the sun was starting to set. But rather than try to cross it they approached a nearby building with boarded up windows. There was a section of the wall between the windows that looked to be made of metal. When the humans knocked on the metal wall it slid upwards revealing a door and another human beyond. When all the humans entered the building the metal wall came back down.

Violet waited to see if they would come out again, but once it was dark outside she concluded that they were going to stay there for the night. Magentam had once mentioned that humans do not see well in the dark so it made sense that they would not want to travel at night.

‘Magentam. The humans entered a building with a sliding metal wall covering the door. I think they are planning to sleep there for the night.’ She reported.

Did you see any other humans around?

‘I saw one more inside, but I don’t know if there’s more than that. I don’t see any other signs of humans living around here, but we are close to a bridge. I think the humans come from across the river.’

Is that so? Anything else of interest to report?

‘The humans fought a large monster. A huge furred beast with horns that was bigger than they are. They did fight it off, but did not manage to kill it, even with their guns.’

Thank you Violet. You have provided valuable information. You can come back if you would like, it could be dangerous staying out all night on your own. Especially if that creature is still around.

‘No. I will keep following them. This mission is important. I don’t want to give up yet.’

Alright. If you are sure. But please be careful. I do not want to lose you again.

She looked around for a place to sleep for herself. Even if she didn’t need much sleep, it wasn’t a good idea to sleep out in the open. Despite her determination to find the human’s home, she was nervous about spending the night outside alone. On a side street she found one of the metal boxes with wheels, like the ones in the big underground room. It was dented at the front and a bit rusted, but sill mostly intact.

She climbed in through one of the windows which was open. Inside was what looked like seats, thought the padding had long since deteriorated to almost nothing. Perhaps this was once some kind of vehicle. She moved to the back of the box and lay down on the lowest part of the floor and covered herself with her shield. She hoped this would be a good enough hiding place for her to sleep safely.

She awoke a some time later to the peaceful quiet of the night. Though not completely quiet, there were occasional sounds of creatures calling out and moving around in the dark. Not that she was concerned about that, she could see well enough in the dark that she was confident none of them would be able to sneak up on her. She wondered what to do while she waited for the humans to continue their journey.

She could spend the time exploring the surrounding area. None of the imps had been to this part of the city before so there could be a lot of interesting things to find. But she did not bring a backpack to carry things so it would be hard for her to take anything with her.

She came to the bridge. It was long, straight and had very little to hide behind. It would be difficult to follow the humans across without being seen. She could cross the bridge now and wait for the humans on the other side, but that idea was not without risk either. She didn’t know for certain that the humans were going to cross the bridge yet. The fact that they stopped near the bridge could just be a coincidence. They may continue following the river on this side, in which case she might lose them if she was waiting for them on the other side.

Staying safe and out of sight was more important so she decided to take the risk and cross the bridge while it was still dark. She knew sunrise was still quite a while away, so when she reached the other side she decided to look around a little.

She spotted an animal she had not seen before. It looked similar to the dogs she had fought before. But this creature was smaller than most of the dogs had been. It also looked fuzzier and its nose was more pointed. But most importantly was its tail...It was SO FLUFFY! She wanted to touch it. But for that, she’d have to catch it first.

She bolted after it. It fled as it noticed her rapid approach, but it couldn’t outrun Violet. Soon she was almost upon the creature, a manic grin spreading across her face. A strange mist suddenly appeared and engulfed the creature, obscuring it from view. When the mist dissipated, her prize was gone.

Violet looked around in confusion and disappointment, but could find no trace of it. It was just gone, like it had never been there at all. Utterly dejected, she made her way back to the bridge to wait for sunrise and the humans.

Not long after the sun rose Violet could see the humans making their way across. She was hiding in some bushes quite a distance away from the bridge to avoid being seen. She maintained that distance as she followed them through the city. She almost lost them a few times as a result. But she always found them again before they got too far away.

They did not encounter anymore large creatures but there were still a few smaller animals around. Eventually they encountered a metal box that was bigger and boxier than most of the others that she had seen. But this one was moving and had more humans in it, confirming that it was, in fact, some kind of vehicle. The vehicle stopped and the humans inside spoke to the ones she was following for a while. This made Violet suspect that they were getting close to the human’s home now. Eventually the humans parted ways and continued on their respective journeys.

It was almost midday when Violet finally noticed it. A wall cutting through the city. She could not tell how tall it was but knew it must be quite large to see it from such a distance. When the humans reached the wall she could see it must be as tall as at least three humans stacked on top of each other.

They followed along the wall until they eventually came to a gate. She could see several humans guarding the gate on the ground and even more standing on top of it. It looked like they might have been holding weapons of some kind but Violet was to far away to see what they were. The humans spoke to the guards a little then passed through the gate.

Violet was positive she had found the human’s home, but she wanted to see what was on the other side of the wall to be sure. She was confident she could climb the wall. Imps were experts at climbing buildings. Their claws well suited for finding even the slightest purchase on a wall and digging in to it. It was one of the things that made evading vukra and their biters so simple. Imps could quickly and easily scale most buildings, leaving the angry vukra to curse and rage at them from the ground.

But it would not be wise to try climbing so close to the gate. She would be far too easy to see, clinging to the wall like that. She needed to find somewhere out of the view of the guards.

Following the wall back the way she had come until she could not see the gate anymore, she looked around to see if there were any more humans within view. When she could not see any she laid her shield and dagger on the ground. As much as she did not wish to be parted from them, they would only hinder her climb. She would pick them up on the way back.

After checking once more to ensure there were no humans in sight, she sprinted for the wall and vaulted onto it. As she predicted it was easy to climb, made from a rough stone that her claws easily bit into. She quickly made it to the top and what she saw on the other side amazed and terrified her.

It was a thriving, well maintained city. She could see humans walking the streets and vehicles moving around, undoubtedly with more humans inside. She did not know how big this place was, but she could not see the wall on the other side. Assuming that the wall encircled the entire area that the humans lived, it must be huge. She could not even begin to guess how many humans must live here.

To think that this entire ruined city might have once been filled with humans like this was mind boggling. She needed to report this immediately and return home as quickly as possible.

William approached the Director’s office and knocked on the door.

“Enter.” Came the reply from within. He pushed the door open and entered the room.

“Sir, William Blake reporting in.” He said standing to attention.

“Ahh, William, excellent. Please sit. You bring good news I hope.” The Director said.

“Some. But some bad news as well.” William sighed and took a seat in one of the chairs meant for visitors.

“Well, don’t keep me waiting. I haven’t got all day.” The Director replied gruffly.

“I was able to make contact with the dungeon controller. Though they didn't show them self directly, they can apparently communicate telepathically.”

“Really?” The Director said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes Sir. Though they’re fluent in English I wasn’t able to confirm whether they’re human or not. Though I suspect not. Even with the advent of magic, I haven’t heard of any human capable of telepathic communication.”

“Indeed, based on what we know, that is a fair assumption. So, are they willing to trade mana stones?”

“They said they’re not opposed to trade, but there is something we need to do first. We didn’t get into specifics of what would be traded.” The director frowned hearing that.

“They’re making demands of us already? That’s rather audacious. What is it that they need from us.”

“That’s where the bad new comes in Sir. It seems we may have a leak in our organization. Someone who is suspiciously well informed has been sending people to attack the dungeon. I presume with the intention of stealing the core before we could confirm its status.” William explained. The Director’s frown deepening with each passing moment.

“How can you be sure it’s a leak in our office?”

“Well Sir, Magentam, that is the name of the dungeon’s controller, said that one of the first attackers mentioned getting their information from a ‘contact in the DMO’. Magentam seems to care quite deeply for their dungeon creatures and they have apparently faced some casualties as a result of these attacks. They said they will only discus trade after we find out who is responsible and put a stop to it.” The Director slumped back in his chair and groaned.

“Any chance we could just storm in and take the dungeon by force?”

“Sir, I won’t say that it’s impossible, but I would advise against it. I don’t think it would be worth the effort. The resistance we previously faced in trying to reach them was apparently Magentam holding back, which they said they are no longer going to do.”

“Fair enough. I’ll have an investigation started on this possible leak. What can you tell me about the dungeon’s creatures?”

“There does appear to be ‘miniature demons’ as originally reported by Johnathan and his party. Unlike the original report, however, not all of them were red. Of the three that we saw yesterday, only one was red. Of the other two, one was purple and the other dark grey. The purple one was significantly larger than the other two. Due to that and the original report of the core’s colour, I suspect her to be the guardian. I’m not sure about the grey one though.” William reported. He took a moment to organize his thoughts before continuing.

“There were also some creatures not in the original report. They were kind of wolf like in appearance I guess, but they were big and rather intimidating. I suspect that was the point of them being present at the meeting. We didn't see any other creatures, but we weren't allowed to go past the first room where the meeting took place, so I can’t confirm if there are any more or not.” The Director listened to report without interruption, a blank look on his face as he processed the information.

“I see. Anything else?”

“Yes Sir. After we left the dungeon, the purple demon seemed to be following us. The ranger, Seth, reported seeing her twice before we reached the checkpoint last night. But we didn’t see her at all today, meaning she either turned back or got better at hiding.” The Director stiffened at that.

“How do you suggest we deal with her if the patrols come across her? Do you believe she is a threat?”

“No Sir. I believe she’s simply curious. They’re trying to learn about us just as we’re trying to learn about them. I would recommend we don’t engage. They do seem to be intelligent. I don’t believe they would attack without provocation, especially when outnumbered.”

“I’ll take your recommendation under advisement. I want you and Cassandra to write a full report and submit it by the end of the day. See if you can get those escorts of yours to do the same.” The Director commanded.